Everyone likes to go after the champ. When it comes to fuel economy, that means taking on the Prius, which is something that automakers not named Toyota have been trying to do for years. Just because no one has been able to beat the Prius for fuel economy numbers isn't stopping them from trying. Hyundai was just caught with a potential Prius-fighter and now we have news that Ford is joining the party. Well, is going to join again.

It's been a rough time for the official fuel economy figures for the Ford C-Max Hybrid. When the car was released in 2012, Ford made a huge deal about how it would beat the Toyota Prius V, which was rated at 42 combined miles per gallon, 44 city and 40 highway. The Ford? 47 mpg across the board.

Poor Escape. Ever since its launch in 2012, Ford's small CUV has been the subject of many, many, many recalls. And today, The Detroit News is reporting that Ford is adding two more recalls to the 2013-14 model year Escape's permanent record, one of them also involves the C-Max hybrid hatchback.

Ford will be voluntarily recalling 23,830 Focus Electric and C-Max Hybrid and Energi models equipped with push-button ignition, according to The Detroit News. Why? Because the cars don't make a noise when the driver's door is open, and are therefore in violation of federal regulations. It's not as silly as Honda's badging recall that isn't a recall, but it's close.

Ford is hoping 6,700 free miles, or thereabouts, will allay some dissatisfied C-Max Hybrid buyers. The automaker said in August that it would send out rebate checks after it had to lower its fuel economy rating on much-hyped model has now started making good on that promise, Automotive News reports. Have you gotten yours?

There's kind of a lot to digest in the news about the 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid EPA label change. In fact, as we tried to really understand how and why Ford downrated the car's fuel economy from 47 miles per gallon across the board to 43 mpg (combined, with 45 city and 40 on the highway) we learned about the EPA's so-called "general label rule," how Ford is now claiming it didn't fully understand how hybrid fuel economy is affected by factors like driving speed, break-in miles and temperature and w

Aaaaaand that's that. After lawsuits and more lawsuits over the fuel economy rating for the 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid, Ford will officially announce tomorrow that it will drop that rating. The company has tried software updates to try and get the C-Max Hybrid MPG level to where it was supposed to be, but has now admitted defeat in that fight in what Automotive News calls "a rare and potentially costly move." Ford is currently not making any statements on the issue but we should know a lot more tomo

Ford is waiting to see if it will be facing several class action lawsuits over its mileage ratings - three of which were filed in late April. Suits filed in federal courthouses in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and California claim Ford is overstating the average mileage ratings for its 2013 Ford C-Max and Fusion Hybrids.

I was fortunate to get one-on-one chats with two top GM technology leaders (John Lauckner and Larry Nitz) at this year's Detroit North American International Auto Show, but no other automaker offered that opportunity. However, while I was resting and enjoying lunch in Ford's media lounge, in walked Ford's newly-promoted chief operating officer (and likely successor to CEO Alan Mulally) Mark Fields.

We have yet to find any official documentation from either Ford or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, but Edmunds and Cars.com are both reporting that there is a recall on the 2013 C-Max, Focus and Escape. All three vehicles were assembled with a faulty child door lock mechanism on the left rear door that might not work properly allowing a child to accidently open the door from the inside.

A California lawsuit over the fuel economy claims for the 2013 Ford C-Max was first reported back in December. Based on the numerous reports we've heard of disgruntled owners failing to get their car's EPA fuel economy ratings on the C-Max and 2013 Fusion Hybrid, we suspected there would be more to this story. The Detroit News is reporting that two California law firms are combining their lawsuits against Ford on this matter for "false and misleading" claims.

The grain of salt one should take this post with is that Wayne Gerdes is just one man, and that his personal test results may not be applicable to everyone. Still, Gerdes is well-known in the green car community – his Guinness World Record for lowest fuel consumption in a hybrid and his position as owner of CleanMPG are just two good reasons – so when he and his crew tested a Ford C-Max Hybrid, the results are worth paying attention to. Turns out, they couldn't get anywhere near the

It was lucky for me that GM's recent media forum on its electrification efforts was in San Francisco, since I would already be there for the press launch for the Ford C-Max Energi plug-in hybrid. And GM promised a session with its new global product guru, Mary Barra, and a brief drive of a prototype 2014 Chevy Spark EV.

Ford, and other automakers selling hybrid electric vehicles, may need to place a warning label near the city/highway miles per gallon label on the car's window sticker: "WARNING: Your average fuel economy will be determined by your driving conditions, including speed traveled on highways and how you apply your braking."

The bad news for Ford is that its C-Max Hybrid wagon was solidly beaten by sales of the Toyota Prius V last month. The good news is the C-Max outsold all of Ford's other hybrids in its very first month, hinting that things could get real interesting between the C-Max and V in the future. Ford has been heavily touting the C-Max Hybrid as an alternative to the Prius V, and we're about to get real data on if that approach is working.

For the third-generation hybrid system powering the Fusion Hybrid and C-MAX Hybrid, Ford expects to be using about 500,000 pounds a year less of expensive and uncommon rare earth metals. Reduction of rare earth metals in the lithium-ion batteries and the hybrid system's electric machines lowers vehicle costs as Ford ramps up its production of hybrids and electric vehicles over the next years, allowing the automaker to offer more affordable, fuel-efficient vehicle choices to customers. Of course,